Designated Mum Friend
by clairevergreen
Summary: Mum Friend (n.)- the one friend in the group who is always taking care of and looking out for everyone else; the responsible one...Unfortunately for designated mum friend Lyra Stebbins, she is about to find out that always taking care of everyone else comes with its own set of problems.
1. 1

The jarring beep of her alarm clock was a familiar noise to Lyra Stebbins. She rolled over and slammed her hand down on it, stopping the beeping for at least a few minutes. Rolling back onto her stomach, she buried her face in her pillow as she tried to gather the energy to get out of bed. A sliver of light peeked through a crack in her curtains and she blinked against it as she picked her head up. Reluctantly, she climbed out of bed, turning off the alarm she knew would go off in just a couple minutes. She ran her hands through her dark hair and quickly threw it up into some sort of bun before pushing open the door to her room and making her way down the hall to the kitchen.

As she passed the other two rooms in the hallway, she paused and listened at each door to see if she could hear anything, but no one else seemed to be awake. Lyra continued on to the kitchen and glanced over to the small sitting room as she headed over to the coffee machine. Three boys were sprawled out in various places, one of which was snoring quite loudly. Lyra just shook her head as the coffee started brewing and started riffling through the cabinets until she found the potion bottle she was looking for, right behind a set of small glasses. She pulled both out, attempting to tune out the snoring, and poured the potion into five glasses. She glanced over at the coffee pot and, seeing that it was almost done brewing, went back to the cabinets and pulled out two pans.

"Here we go," she said, moving over to the sitting room and glancing around at the three boys before banging the pots together as hard as she could. The blonde haired boy on the couch instantly rolled off as he tried to jump up, hitting his head on the table as he did so. The others attempted to jump to their feet, but in their groggy and hungover state, they only really managed to go from sleeping on the floor to crumbled in a heap on top of each other. Lyra smiled as the three of them came to senses and figured out what had just happened.

"Rise and shine!" Lyra said, turning around to put the pans on the counter.

"Bloody hell, Lyra," Scorpius, the blonde from the couch, said as he sat up from where he had fallen.

"A little warning next time," Al said, still trying to untangle himself from Louis.

Lyra nodded towards the glasses of potion before starting to walk back down the hall, saying, "Potion's on the counter and coffee's in the pot."

She made her way to the first door in the hall and started banging on the door. "Rose?" she called, pausing just long enough in her knocking to listen for a response. "Are you awake yet?" When she still didn't hear an answer, she opened the door, not sure what exactly she was expecting to find. Even in the dark of the room, Lyra could tell that Rose was exactly where she had left her the night before. She was passed out on her bed, her covers thrown everywhere and her dark red hair tangled up around her face. Lyra started picking her way across the room to the bed, trying not to step on any of the clutter.

"Rosie," she said as she got close enough. "Rose." When her roommate still remained sound asleep, she sighed and grabbed the edge of the blanket twisted around Rose, yanking as hard as she could. Just as she had hoped, the force was enough to send Rose tumbling to the ground as she fell off the other side of the bed with a crash. After a second, Lyra saw Rose's head pop up from beside the bed, her hair obscuring half her face.

"I'm up, I'm awake," she said, clearly disoriented and unsure of where she was.

Lyra threw the blanket back onto the bed and started to walk out, stopping to pick up a shoe that she was pretty sure belonged to her. "Hangover Potion's in the kitchen," she said as she left Rose's room and moved onto the last room in the apartment.

She knocked on the door and said, "Roxy? Get your arse out of bed." She heard a muffled noise that sounded like Roxy's voice, but when she heard nothing else, she opened the door and stepped into the room. Clutter wise, it was the complete opposite of Rose's, but instead of taking advantage of the space to walk over to the bed, Lyra stood by the door and threw the shoe at the mound of covers that contained Roxanne.

"Ow!" she yelled, her head appearing from underneath the cover. "What the fuck was that for?"

"You weren't getting up," Lyra said, already stepping out of the room. "Everything's in the kitchen when you get there." She quickly shut the door behind her as she finished speaking and the dull thud from her shoe as it hit the door told her that she had made the right decision. Even hungover and half asleep, Roxanne still managed to have impressive aim.

By the time Lyra made it back to the kitchen after changing into her work robes, the coffee was almost gone and all of the glasses were empty. Everyone but Louis was sitting around the table with cups of coffee in front of them. Louis was digging around in the cabinets and he turned when he heard Lyra walk in.

"You guys don't happen to have any bagels, do you?" he asked as Lyra went over to the coffee pot and poured some into a travel mug. Louis gestured to Rose and Roxy before continuing, "These two say they can't remember."

"That's because Lyra woke us up at some ungodly hour of the morning the day after a party," Roxy whined, her head in her hands as she stared down at her mug.

Lyra rolled her eyes as she walked over to the table, screwing on the lid of her mug. "No, Louis, we don't have bagels. You're the only one that eats them," she said. "And you don't live here." He frowned and closed the cabinet, sitting down in one of the chairs. Lyra glanced down at the watch on her wrist and took a sip of her coffee, heading for the door. "And I woke you up because I have to be at work in twenty minutes, Roxy you have practice in an hour-" She stopped talking as she looked at Scorpius who had fallen asleep again and kicked his chair as she walked by. "Scorp's shift starts in an hour, and there are still three people sitting at this table that don't live here." Albus looked up from his coffee and adjusted his glasses, looking like Lyra had just given him the worst insult in the world. Roxy shifted in her seat, lifting her mug up to her lips.

"I hate when you get like this," she muttered, setting her mug down and trying to push back the mess that was her hair.

"Oh, please," Lyra said as she made it to the door and opened it up. "You wouldn't last a day without me."

There was nothing like the rush of St. Mungo's on a Monday morning. As soon as Lyra walked into the lobby, she was almost knocked over by people rushing their friends in after a weekend of 'fun' and everyone who wanted an excuse to not go into work that day. She stepped out of the way of a mother chasing after her child who seemed to be glowing blue and made her way past the reception desk, waving to the Welcome Witch at the reception desk who seemed more annoyed than overwhelmed. When Lyra finally got to the lift, she had to shove past more than a few patients, most of whom were arguing with various Healers and nurses as they tried to convince the medical staff they should stay. She hit the button for level three and took another sip of her coffee that she had somehow managed not to spill in the chaos.

When the doors slid open on the Potions and Plant Poisonings, Lyra had to bite her lip to keep from groaning as she saw the utter insanity that was nurses and Healers rushing around. Their floor was always the busiest at the beginning of the week with all of the idiots testing whatever potions they felt like while they were drunk on the weekend. Lyra maneuvered her way out of the lift and fought through the crowd of people to the nurses' station about halfway down.

"Oh, finally," Nia, one of the other nurses said as Lyra walked up. "I don't think I could take another minute of this." The other nurse at the station, Rebekah, shook her head as Nia started packing up her things.

"You worked one eight hour shift," Rebekah said to Nia as Lyra stowed her bag behind the station. "I think you'll make it." Nia stuck out her tongue at the older nurse and tossed her bag over her shoulder.

"Yeah, well, you're lucky," Nia said, turning to Lyra as she spoke. "His Royal Highness Warrington just ended his shift and I think Felicity is his replacement."

"Thank Merlin," Rebekah said as Nia waved goodbye. "I don't think I could spend another minute with that pompous, arrogant, sh-"

"Hi, Healer Warrington," Lyra said, cutting Rebekah off mid-sentence. Rebekah spun in her chair as the Head Healer walked by with charts in his hands, shrugging his coat on. He glanced over and Lyra saw a brief look of confusion pass his face. She had to hold in a laugh at that. She had been working on his floor for close to two years and Rebekah had been there even longer, yet he still couldn't tell them apart from the Welcome Witch on the bottom floor.

"Ladies," he said, giving them a polite nod. He immediately looked away again and Lyra shot a look at Rebekah. The other woman rolled her eyes and went back to filling out the chart in front of her. Lyra looked back over at Healer Warrington who had managed to corner Felicity Jordan, the other attending Healer on the floor, and appeared to be lecturing her as he handed off the charts. Lyra watched as Felicity nodded and Warrington pushed past her, the other nurses and Healers clearing out of his way.

"I still don't know how you can deal with him all the time," Rebekah said as Felicity walked over.

Felicity just brushed off the comment, flipping through the charts. "I grew up with Fred Weasley," she said, finally looking up. "You get used to it." Rebekah nodded in understanding and went back to her work.

Felicity looked back down at the charts, stopping at one of them. "Rebekah, when you're done with that, can you give Mr. Avery his potion again? Warrington said the rash from whatever potion he thought he was brewing was still there."

"Yeah, of course," Rebekah said, scribbling something down and setting it in the bin before heading over to Mr. Avery's room. Felicity handed her the chart as she walked by and looked up at Lyra.

"Didn't expect you to be here today," she said, leaning back against the counter. Lyra frowned and grabbed one of her patients charts from where it had been filed. Felicity seemed to notice the look on her face and said, "Roxy told me you all went to a party, so I just assumed you'd take today off."

Lyra chuckled and shook her head. "No, I just go to the parties," she said. "I don't actually do anything besides make sure everyone stays out of trouble." Felicity glanced over and shook her head. She opened her mouth to say something, but one of the Healers-in-training cut her off before she could.

"You're still doing that?" Felicity asked after she was done and Lyra looked up in confusion.

"Doing what?" Lyra asked, putting down her quill. "My job?"

Felicity gave her a look and continued, "You can't keep taking care of them forever. It was one thing at school, but Merlin knows they can handle themselves now."

Lyra bit her lip for a second before answering, "I dunno, have you met Rose?"

"Lyra-"

"I know what you mean," Lyra said, cutting Felicity off. "But I can't help it. I take care of people, it's what I do." She waved her hands around at all of the people and patients wandering around the floor. "It's literally my job."

"That doesn't mean you have to bring it home with you," Felicity shot back, a smile on her face. Lyra was about to respond when a commotion down the hall drew Felicity's attention. Lyra looked back down at the paperwork in front of her as Felicity started down the hall towards them. She heard her footsteps pause and then move back towards the nurses' station. Lyra glanced up yet again to see Felicity leaning over the edge of the station.

"Look, I get it," she said quickly and quietly, "but you can't be their mum forever. It doesn't help them and it certainly doesn't help you. Trust me." She walked away before Lyra could say anything.

For a minute, Lyra just sat there, trying to figure out what Felicity had said. She bit her lip again as she looked around the floor. _It's harmless_ , she thought as she went back to her work. _There's nothing wrong with wanting to help._


	2. 2

No matter how many times Lyra woke up in the middle of the day, she could never get used to getting up with the sun streaming through her window and that day was no different. She squinted her eyes as she rolled out of bed, quickly throwing on her robes and heading out into the kitchen.

"Oh, Lyra, good you're up," Roxy said from her place at the table, pushing her plate away as Lyra walked over to the coffee machine.

"Hold that thought," Lyra said, not even looking over as she poured her coffee and added in the cream and sugar. She turned around and leaned against the counter, taking a sip.

Roxy turned around in her chair and frowned, saying, "Ly, it's one in the afternoon. You don't need c-" Lyra held up her finger as she looked at Roxy over her mug. Roxy closed her mouth and crossed her arms. She started tapping her fingers against her arm as Lyra slowly sipped at her drink. "Are you quite done?" Roxy said as Lyra lowered her mug.

"Oh, come on," Lyra said, "you've lived with me since we were eleven, you know I need coffee before-"

"But anyway," Roxy cut in, shooting Lyra a glare as she put her dish in the sink, "we're going out to the bar on Friday, you can come right?"

Lyra bit her lip and set her coffee cup down on the counter. "I don't know, I have a lot of extra shifts this week," she started, but in the back of her mind, she knew that she had already lost the battle. Just like any other time Roxy tried to convince her to do pretty much anything.

Roxy rolled her eyes as she sat back down. "Come on, it's just one night," she said, crossing her leg in front of her so she could sit backwards in the chair. "You don't have to stay long."

Lyra finished her coffee and walked over to the sink, her back to Roxy. "Rox, I don't think I can," she said, scrubbing the mug as she did so. She heard the chair squeak against the floor as Roxy got up yet again, coming to stand beside her.

"Ly, please," Roxy said, leaning on the counter. "You know it always goes better when you come."

"Roxy-"

"You could bring a date or something," Roxy continued like she didn't even hear Lyra. "Please would you just come with us?"

"Okay!" Lyra said, turning to face Roxy. "Fine, I'll come."

Roxy smiled and pushed off from the counter. "Perfect! It'll be fun, I swear."

Lyra gave her a look as she dried off the mug she was cleaning, putting it back in the cupboard. "You say that every time," she said, opening another cupboard to grab a piece of bread. "And normally the night ends with me attempting to carry someone back up here because they're too drunk to go back home."

"Oh, don't pretend you don't enjoy it," Roxy teased as Lyra stuck the bread in the toaster. Lyra rolled her eyes as she turned away to grab a plate, purposefully not responding to her roommate. As much as she wanted to deny it, she knew that Roxy was right.

The only thing worse than working double shifts was working double shifts with His Majesty Calvin Warrington. It was easy to avoid and ignore him for the first hour or so, but by the time the second eight hour shift started, even the newest nurses were about ready to strangle him.

"Incoming," Eliza, one of the youngest nurses, said and all the other nurses turned to follow her gaze. The second they realized who was walking their way, they all attempted to scatter to avoid Warrington. Lyra ducked her head and started scribbling furiously at the file she was working on, hoping to look busy enough that he would pass her by.

She heard his footsteps stop and internally groaned when she heard him say, "Nurse?" Reluctantly, she looked up. _Only been working for you two years, but sure, it's totally fine you don't know my name,_ she thought.

"Yes, Healer Warrington?" she said, doing her best to keep her tone light.

"I need you to take this to the patient in room 327," he said in his businesslike tone that he never seemed to deviate from.

Lyra plastered a fake smile onto her face and nodded as Warrington handed her the potion, resisting the urge to tell him exactly where she thought he could stick it. Thankfully, he walked away before she could do anything that could jeopardize her job, her smile disappearing as soon as he couldn't see her anymore. She set the chart she had been holding on the counter of the station and made her way down the hall to room 327. Lyra knocked on the open door, waiting until she heard the patient answer.

"Hi, Mai," she said as she walked over to the bed. The dark haired girl looked up from the book she was reading, setting it to the side when she realized who it was.

"Hey," Mai said, smiling as Lyra came over to her. Lyra couldn't help but return the smile. Mai had only been in the ward for a few days after a bad batch of a Draught of Peace had been slipped into her drink, but she had quickly become the favorite of all the nurses. Mostly because she actually listened to what they tried to tell her.

Mai pulled a face when she saw what was in Lyra's hand. "Another one?" she said. Lyra nodded and held it out for her to take.

"Last one, I promise," Lyra said as Mai took the bottle from her. Mai frowned down at the bottle before glancing back up at Lyra.

"How is it that you're always the one who seems to be taking care of me?" she asked, lowering the bottle until it was in her lap.

"I guess I managed to pull the short straw," Lyra said, smirking as she finished. "No, but it just works out that I'm always here when you have to take anything." Lyra looked pointedly at the bottle in Mai's hand and the girl gave her a half smile before lifting the potion to her mouth. Lyra moved down to the foot of Mai's bed as she drank, picking up her chart.

"Don't you ever go home?" Mai teased as she finished drinking the potion.

Lyra looked up from where she had been adding to Mai's chart and smiled. "Sure doesn't feel like it," she said back, putting the chart back at the foot of the bed. Lyra walked back over to Mai, taking the now empty bottle out of her hand. Their fingers touched as Lyra took it and Mia quickly pulled her hand away before looking back down at the bed.

"I'm sure there's someone at home that hates the hours as much you do," Mia said quickly and Lyra had to stop walking so she could concentrate on what the girl was saying. "A boyfriend or something?" Lyra raised her eyebrow and leaned against the foot of the bed. She was used to patients hitting on her, but for the most part, it was older, creepy men who couldn't tell the difference between flirting and nurses just doing their job; a pretty girl her age was definitely new.

"Well, there's definitely not a boyfriend," she said, watching as Mai's face lit up slightly at her answer, "but no, I'm not seeing anyone right now."

Lyra could tell that Mai was trying to keep a smile off her face as she picked at the blankets on her bed. "Oh, great," she said and Lyra bit back a laugh at the expression on Mai's face as she realized what she had said. "I mean, not great for you," she backtracked, her words coming out faster and faster as she went on. "Unless, you aren't interested in that sort of thing, I didn't mean to assume-"

"Do you want to go out sometime?" Lyra said suddenly, cutting off Mai before she could dig a bigger hole for herself. "You should be out of here by tomorrow and my friend's and I are going out to a bar on Friday for some drinks. You know, if you want to come."

"Yeah," Mai said like she was still trying to process what Lyra had just said. "Yeah, that sounds great."

From the outside, The Cowardly Hippogriff looked like an abandoned, run-down coffee shop that no one had touched for years. Muggles passed by it without even glancing over, assuming that it was one of those buildings that always seemed to pop up that never seemed to get repaired or open ever again. As Lyra and her friends walked up to it, they all glanced around to make sure no one was paying any attention to them.

"This is a joke, right?" Mai asked, hanging back from the group and staring at the decrepit building with suspicion. Lyra stopped and turned to her as all of the others made a beeline for the boarded up door.

"Just wait," Lyra said, putting a hand on her shoulder. Mai shot her a skeptical look, but as they moved closer, Lyra saw her face light up.

The broken down appearance started to melt away once they got close enough. The cracked brick walls seemed to repair themselves and instantly regained their vibrant red color. The trim of the door began repainting itself, but the bright gold paint was still chipping in places from people running their hands across it. Panes of glass flew back into window frames and the sign hanging crookedly from the wall snapped back into place, elegant cursive writing twisting itself into the name of the bar.

"Woah," Mai said and Lyra grinned as she pulled her date through the door.

The Cowardly Hippogriff was never the most popular bar, but it somehow managed to be close to packed every time they went in. The tiny dance floor was flanked by a row of tables and booths leading up to the row of chairs in front of the bar rail. People were crowded in front of the bar, the single bartender running back and forth as she filled each drink order. As their group walked farther into the room, the bartender looked over and Lyra could see her smile as she waved to them.

"So I take it you guys come here often?" Mai asked as everyone headed straight for the bar where the bartender already had drinks waiting for them. Lyra glanced over and saw Mai trying her best to keep the smile off her face.

"Albus's older brother used to work here and live upstairs," Lyra explained as they followed the group over to the bar, "so we've spent a little bit of time here." Mai laughed as they grabbed the last two empty seats at the bar.

"Hey, Lyra," the bartender said, setting a soft drink in front of her.

"Thanks," Lyra said, half turning in her seat so she could see Mai. "Mai, this is Jessie. Jessie, this is Mai."

The two girls reached out and shook hands. "It's nice to meet you," Jessie said, shifting the towel she had on her shoulder. "Can I get you anything?" As Mai ordered her drink, Lyra glanced around the bar, almost instinctively searching for her friends. She saw Louis and Rose sitting together down the bar, the rest of her friends scattered around the dance floor and tables nearby.

"Lyra," she heard Mai say and quickly turned around to see her date looking at her with an expectant expression. Mai raised her eyebrow before continuing, "I asked if you were going to get anything else to drink."

Lyra shook her head, more so to refocus on her date than to answer her, and said, "Oh, no, this is all I ever get." She held up her drink and took a sip, looking around the bar again.

"Wait, really?" Mai asked, leaning her elbow against the counter. "You go out to a bar just to sit around and drink butterbeer all night?" Lyra didn't say anything, taking another sip of her drink. She could see Jessie staring at her from down the bar, but she quickly looked away, focusing back on Mai.

"So you do this a lot?" Mai asked, shifting forward in her seat and pushing her drink farther from the edge. When Lyra nodded, she continued, "Every time?"

Lyra shrugged, setting her bottle down. "Yeah, I mean, someone has to be the responsible one."

Mai scrunched her nose up and leaned back in her seat. "Sure, I guess," she said, looking down at her drink. "But that doesn't mean you're the one that has to do it." Mai leaned forward as she finished talking, her hair falling in front of her shoulders as she did so. Before Lyra could stop herself, she glanced down at the deep-V neckline of Mai's shirt and when she looked back up, she could see the smirk on the dark haired girl's face.

"And you especially shouldn't have to do it while on a date," Mai said, quieter this time as she moved forward in her seat.

Lyra leaned closer as well, but before she could get anywhere close to Mai, she almost instinctively glanced over to the dance floor.

"There you go again!" Mai said, leaning back and taking another sip of her drink. "You know, yo-"

"Are you two gonna just sit there all night or what?" Louis asked as he suddenly appeared behind them. Lyra jumped when he put his hand on her shoulder, glancing back at him. She thought she saw him frown, but it was gone so quickly she wasn't sure if it was real or not. He didn't seem to notice her look because he continued, "Come on, I need a few pretty ladies to dance with me."

Lyra smiled, but it was short-lived when she looked back at Mai. The girl downed the rest of her drink and stood up, not looking over at Lyra. "I'll be out in a minute, I just have to go to the bathroom," she said, already in motion by the time she finished talking. Lyra's frown deepened as Mai walked away and she turned back to the bar to take another long drink of her butterbeer.

"You know that isn't alcoholic, right?" Louis asked, giving her a somewhat worried look.

"Let's not talk about it," Lyra mumbled, grabbing Louis' arm and pulling him out onto the dance floor.

For the next twenty minutes, Lyra continued glanced over to the bar every so often to see if Mai was back, but she kept getting distracted by her friends. She already had to step in when Al and Scorp, who had had more than a few drinks at that point, got in an argument with some other couple who claimed the boys were sitting in their booth. Rose had to be escorted off the dance floor more than a few times and no matter how often Lyra took drinks out of her hands, they somehow continued to appear every time her back was turned. Finally, Lyra managed to escape and fought her way through the dance floor to the bar.

"Hey, Jessie, have you seen Mai?" Lyra asked once she flagged down the bartender. "She said she was just going to the bathroom, but I haven't seen her since." Jessie looked down, gripping the glass she was holding tighter. When she looked back up, she bit her lip and threw a look down the bar.

"What is it?" Lyra asked, leaning back so she could see what Jessie was staring at.

"Lyra, wait," Jessie started, reaching out for Lyra's hand, but she wasn't fast enough.

Mai was sitting at the end of the bar, her fingers tangled in some brunette's hair as they kissed. They were almost in each other's laps, so much so that the people on the other side of them had shifted over and were shooting them dirty looks. Lyra felt her heart sink and she could hear her blood rushing in her ears. Her knuckles on her right hand were white from how hard she was holding onto the counter.

"I'm so sorry," Jessie said as Lyra sunk down in the seat. "That girl just started hitting on her and she started complaining about how lousy her date was going and then-"

"Jessie, it's fine," Lyra said, trying her best to smile. "Really, she wasn't much fun anyways. Besides, we didn't really know each other that well. It's not a big deal." She saw Jessie frown, but Lyra cut her off before she could say anything. "Go do your job, I'm fine." Just as she finished talking, someone called for Jessie from down the bar, drawing her attention away.

She watched as Jessie headed back down the bar to refill a drink before looking back down at her drink. _I'm not fine_ , she thought, blinking back the tears she knew were coming. _I'm not fine at all._


	3. 3

Waking up to five people in random places in her kitchen was not a new experience for Lyra. Having them all functioning and awake before her, though, was something she was not used to.

Scorpius pushed off from the counter as she rounded the corner, setting down the spoon he was using to eat his cereal. Al, Louis, and Rose shifted at their seats at the table and Roxy yanked her head out of the freezer where she was no doubt looking for the last of the ice cream they had bought the week before. Lyra stopped as she got to edge of the kitchen, looking around at her friends. "Hey, guys," she said, crossing her arms.

Her friends looked between each other, like they were having some sort of silent conversation, before turning back to Lyra. "We made you coffee," Rose said, breaking the silence as she held out a steaming mug. Lyra edged closer and uncrossed her arms to grab it, staring down like it was going to bite her.

"It's not poisoned," Louis said and even though she couldn't see him, Lyra could almost hear the eye roll. "Scorp's a Healer, I think he knows how to make coffee."

Lyra hesitantly took a sip, still watching everyone from over the rim. She set the mug down on the table and pulled out the other chair, the noise of the legs scraping the floor cutting through the quiet in the kitchen. She set her mug down, her eyes not leaving the people staring at her. "Is there something on my face?"

No one said anything for a beat until Scorpius leaned back on the counter and crossed his arms. "Are you…doing okay?" he asked, giving her a concerned look.

"Just peachy," Lyra said, taking another sip of her drink. She saw Roxy roll her eyes as she pulled the tub of ice cream out of the freezer, but none of the others seemed to indicate that they had heard her answer. She wrapped her hands around the mug, swirling it so the creamer made patterns in the coffee.

After a minute of them just looking around at each other, Lyra set down her mug and watched as a few drops spilled out. "Okay, just spit it out," she said, making sure to meet everyone's eye. Everyone but Rose shifted uncomfortably and tried their best to avoid her gaze. "What did you all want to say?" Lyra asked with a little more force than she had originally intended.

"They want to ask you what happened with Mai last night," Rose said. She glanced up after a second, holding her toast in her hand. "Well, they were going to ask it a bit less directly than that."

"Thanks, Rosie," Scorpius muttered, reaching up to run his hands through his hair. Rose shrugged, ignoring everyone else's protests as she took a bite of toast. Lyra smiled slightly, taking another sip of her coffee.

"Okay, but really," Al said. "What happened?"

Lyra shrugged and set her mug down, feeling her heart start to pound. She reached forward and grabbed some toast, holding it above her plate. She ripped it in half, watching as the crumbs fell onto the plate. "She just complained for a while about how I was looking after you guys and then she…" Lyra trailed off for a second and cleared her throat, ripping the toast up more. "She disappeared after that. I dunno where she went."

"Well, she's just a dick, so I wouldn't worry too much about her," Al said as he stood up to put his mug in the sink. Scorpius threw his spoon at his boyfriend, making Al turn around. "What?" Al said, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm right, aren't I?"

"You don't have to say it, though," Roxy said through her mouthful of ice cream. Al grabbed a grape from the bag at the counter and tossed it at her.

"Look, it's fine," Lyra said, cutting in before any argument could get underway. "She obviously wasn't worth the trouble, so I'm glad it didn't work out." Al, Scorpius, and Rose shared a glance while Roxy just gave her an unconvinced look. "Seriously," Lyra said, trying to ignore how hard she was gripping the mug.

"If she said she's fine, then she's fine," Louis said with a mouthful of toast. They all turned to look at him and Lyra mouthed a quick 'thank you.' He nodded slightly and swallowed his mouthful. "Don't you guys have jobs to get to or something?"

Al glanced down at his watch and shot to his feet, trying to get Rose's attention. "If we don't leave now, we're fucked," he said, grabbing her plate out from under her and sticking it in the sink. As he walked past Lyra on his way to hurry Rose out the door, he put his hand on Lyra's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Glad you're fine," he said quietly and Lyra barely had time to nod in acknowledgment before he was out the door with Rose.

Scorpius shook his head at the two of them and started making his way to the door to grab his coat. "Aren't you coming?" he asked Louis as he made no move to get up from the table.

Louis shook his head and reached for another piece of toast. "Nope, I'm not going in today," he said vaguely.

Roxy rolled her eyes as she tossed the empty tub of ice cream in the trash can, walking through the kitchen to her room. "Which means you have zero clients…again," she said, kicking Louis' chair.

Louis shoved her as she walked by. "Maybe if my only client hadn't fired me," he called after her as she walked away. Lyra saw Scorpius roll his eyes as he opened the door, giving her a small wave as he left.

"I wouldn't have fired you if you were actually competent," Roxy said as she headed through the kitchen again, her Quidditch bag slung over her shoulder. Louis reached out to try and hit her, but she danced out of the way, laughing as Louis flipped her off.

"Fuck right off, Roxanne," Louis said as she blew a kiss as she walked out the door.

After the door swung shut behind Roxy, the apartment was almost silent, the only noise being the slow drip of the coffee maker. Louis straightened up in his chair, stuffing another piece of toast in his mouth.

"Do you think I take care of you all too much?" Lyra said suddenly, twisting her mug around in her hand.

Louis paused with his toast halfway to his mouth and gave her a confused look. "Do I think what?" he asked.

Lyra looked down at her mug, still pushing it around the table. "I'm always the one looking after everyone all the time," she continued, not meeting Louis' gaze. "I'm the mum friend."

"Okay, first of all," she heard Louis start, "that's not true. You aren't the only responsible one in this friend group." When she looked up and gave him a doubtful look, he said, "No, you aren't. We're all fully capable of taking care of ourselves…most of the time. I mean, life does go on when you're at work.

"And second," he said, pulling off the crust on the toast. "You've said yourself that you like doing that. You offer to do it every time."

"I know, but…" Lyra's hands went back to her necklace, twisting the pendant so the chain tightened around her neck.

"Look, if this is about whatever that fuckwad that you went out with last night said, Al was right, she's a dick, so don't worry about her," Louis said, leaning back in his chair.

Lyra shook her head. "No…I-I mean…," Lyra said trailing off. She ran her finger around the rim of her mug. "It's not just her, though," she said after a minute. She looked over at Louis, nervously fiddling with her necklace. "Felicity said something about it, too. She said that it doesn't help anyone if I keep taking care of you all."

Louis sat back down, another piece of toast on his plate. He took a bite of it before saying, "Okay, I know for a fact that Felicity has no room to talk if everything that San has told me is true." He paused for a second to swallow. "And second, why do you care all of a sudden?"

Lyra shifted her eyes back down to her mug, passing it between her hands. When she glanced up, Louis was still looking at her expectantly, waiting for her answer. She took a deep breath and blurted out, "I just want to date someone."

Louis stopped with his toast halfway to his mouth and set it down, raising his eyebrow. "And being the designated Apparater keeps you from doing that because…?"

Lyra gripped her drink tighter, looking out of the tiny window above the sink. "If I'm always watching all of you then I'm not paying attention to whoever I'm out with and it just ends up with them running off." _And making out with another girl_ , she added in her head. Louis was quiet after that and Lyra continued to stare down at her coffee.

"I think the simplest solution," Louis started, pausing for a second. Lyra looked over at him and immediately regretted it when she saw the grin on his face. Louis pushed his plate away and continued, "The simplest solution is to just take her out on a date. You know what one of those are, right?" He started laughing as she threw toast at him. "It's when you go out with just one person to a nice—"

"I know what a date is Louis," she interrupted, ducking as he threw a piece of his crust at her. "It's just…," she started, ripping up more of the toast. "I can't not take care of you all. It's…it's complicated."

Louis just cocked his head to the side and raised his eyebrow. "What part of asking someone to go out with you and not bringing us along is complicated?" Louis asked as he finished the rest of his coffee. "It is possible not to take care of someone for five minutes." Lyra leaned forward and rested her head in her hands, pushing some of her hair out of her face.

"Not as easy as you'd think," she mumbled under her breath as Louis stood up and walked over to the toaster, tossing his cup in the sink as he did so. She sighed and put her hands down, leaning back in her chair and letting her head hang back. She heard the click of the toaster as Louis threw two more pieces of bread in there and an idea popped into her mind.

"You could teach me," Lyra said suddenly, sitting up straight. "You're good at not taking care of people."

Louis stopped and turned to her. "Thanks, I really appreciate that," he said.

Lyra rolled her eyes and sat back in her chair. "I didn't mean it like that," she said, twisting the pendant on her necklace around. "I meant out of everyone, you just are always doing whatever you want without thinking about—"

"You're not helping your case here," Louis said, turning to glare at her.

Lyra groaned and pushed her chair back from the table, moving so she was leaning against the counter right next to Louis. "Please, Louis," she said, trying to meet his eye.

He turned to look at her and she stuck out her bottom lip in a pout. He sighed and reached over to grab the toast as it popped out. "Fine." Lyra grinned and threw her arm around his neck before he could push her away. "I will teach you how to care about people less," Louis said as he slipped out from under her arm. "Which is the stupidest thing I've ever heard, by the way." He stuck the toast in his mouth as her reached for his jacket hanging by the door.

"You eat way too much toast, do you know that?" Lyra said as she walked over to put her mug in the sink.

Louis shot her a look as he shrugged on his jacket and opened the door. As soon as the jacket was on, he reached up and grabbed the toast out of his mouth. "I wouldn't have to if you just bought some goddamn bagels."


End file.
